I NEED A DRINK!

I need a drink! A deep, long, thirst-quenching drink from the fountain of life!

The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death. – Proverbs 13:14

The greatest wisdom of all comes from our God and from God’s living and active Word – our Lord Jesus Christ, who offers us His fountain of “living water” (John 4:10). And, oh! I need to drink from this fountain of life continually!

God’s Word teaches us that we all have two basic, fundamental choices to make about how we live – about how we think, speak, act and react as we live out each day of our lives. In one way or another, through everything that we do, we will either be choosing life or we will be choosing death.

…I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses…Now choose life… – Deuteronomy 30:19

Everything we do, in every way we think, speak, act and react, either brings more life – brings more wholeness, strength and health to all those around us, including to our own bodies, minds, spirits and relationships or everything we do brings more death – brings more deterioration, weakness and pain to all those around us, including to our own bodies, minds, spirits and relationships.

So, what’s my drinking source? Is it God’s Word and wisdom – God’s fountain of life? Or is it from my own well that just isn’t so well? Or am I more often found drinking from the world’s wisdom whose news, cyberspace chatter, gossip, brokenness and blindness can pollute and poison my thinking and behavior? Is the fountain from which I choose to drink pure and clear, fresh and clean – true and eternal?

If we are what we eat, we can reasonably extend that thought to include: we are what we drink. And our God calls us to life. Calls us to follow His ways. Calls us to be continually transforming to be more like Jesus – the One who offers living water for all eternity. So, let’s choose God’s wisdom and Word as our fountain of life. Let’s choose to drink deeply so that everything within us and everything that comes from us will become in us “a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14).

And as we drink from this fountain of life found in God’s wisdom and Word, let’s offer life to all those around us. All are thirsty. All are in desperate need of Christ’s living water. Let’s offer a life-giving drink to others – in eternal, real and tangible ways – as we share God’s love and hope through the salvation of Jesus, and as we offer help by being present and serving those who need encouragement and peace. Let’s offer Christ’s living water to someone who needs a friend, a listening ear, a toilet fixed, a gutter cleaned, a child watched, a pet walked, an errand done, a ride somewhere, a bill paid, a household moved, a meal delivered, a place to stay, a timely visit, an encouraging note…and on and on. Let’s drink deeply and offer drinks to others from Christ’s fountain of living water – through choosing life in everything we do and in everything we are.